Schola Magicae
by Hallenee
Summary: What if Lily Potter nee Evans had written a letter to her sister to be delivered upon her death? HIATUS
1. Prologue: The Arrival of Harry

Disclaimer: I don't own any of thses characters. I am merely using them in a different situation. 

Summary: What if Lily Potter nee Evans had sent her sister a letter to be delivered upon her death?

-  
An old man had just laid the infant at the front door of the house A perfect house on a perfect drive which contained an almost perfect family. The husband was a bit too fat and the wife a bit too thin. The young baby they had was a large boy for his age. The husband and wife doted on him nonetheless although they wanted another child so he had a friend. However, for them this was not possible. Their young son had only been born through medical intervention.

The old man rang the doorbell and left a letter on top of the infant outside. An infant with a lightening strike scar on his forehead. An infant that could one day be very famous. The husband went to see who could be calling at this time of night. the man opened the door and looked around, seeing no one, he was about to close the door when the baby whimpered. The man hurried to pick him up as it was far too cold for any child to be left outside. He lifted the baby with bright green eyes and the letter written in ink of the same colour.

"Who's there dear?" the woman asked.  
"Someone left a baby on the doorstep. Looks like he's the same age as Dudley," the man said shutting the door with his foot and carrying the baby into the kitchen, "There was a letter with him,"

The couple sat down at the table. The man still had the baby in his arms to warm them up with his bodyheat. The letter was on material thicker than paper and was written in a flowing script.

Dear Mrs Dursley,  
I am writing to inform you that your sister and her husband, James and Lily Potter, are dead. Their son, Harry, did not die with them suprisingly. As you are his last living relatives, custody of him has been granted to you. He will be eligible to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he turns eleven. He will receive a letter explaining about the school nearer the time.  
Please do not spoil him as he will be very famous when he enters the wizarding world and we do not want that fame to go to his head. It is very likely that Harry will perform magic between now and then. This is harmless unless performed in front of other non-magical people. If that should happen then you or your husband could be sent to prison. It would be best to tell Harry that his parents died in a car crash as the real reason that they died was very traumatic.  
We look forward to seeing Harry in ten years.

Albus Dumbledore

The couple were in tears by the end of the letter.Whilst Petunia did not see her sister often since she had joined the wizarding world, especially since she had had to go into hiding to escape from a madman who was trying to kill her, they had remained in contact and did love each other. They had arranged to meet up after Lily's war had ended and introduce their boys to each other. Vernon, having only met the Potters once when they had come to his and Petunia's wedding, was more upset for his little nephew Harry who was now an orphan.

"Come on dear, everything will look better in the morning. Let's put little Harry in with Dudley. They aren't too big so they can share a cot for tonight," Vernon said holding his wife with one arm and Harry in the other arm.

A/N I have already written the next chapter so when I get 10 reviews I shall post it. I would like to say now that I don't have children and no contact with them so I don't know how quickly they develop etc. If anyone knows these things and would like to tell me some basic ages for milestones then I'd appreciate it. also this isn't beta-read so if anyone wants to volunteer there then I'm quite happy with it. I don't have Word on this computer so I'm using notepad which has no spellchecker.


	2. Chapter 1: Lily's Last Words

Morning came soon enough and Petunia got both little boys up and dressed. She took them downstairs to get breakfast which Vernon was cooking. As she entered the kitchen, she was greeted by the sight of Vernon sitting next to a giant hawk. The hawk was stealing some of his bacon. Next to the hawk was a small box.

"Morning darling, I dug out the spare high chair for Harry. Maybe later we should go shopping to get some more stuff for the boys," Vernon said, unfazed by his sister in laws hawk sitting next to him. He was slightly curious as to what was in the box but Petunia usually told him. He assumed that the letter had been sent by Lily before she was killed, however she was killed.

Petunia placed a boy in each of the high chairs and warmed their bottles up in the microwave before sitting down in front of the box. It was a plain cardboard box. Inside there was two vials, two wands, a photo that moved, a large piece of material, five golden keys, a mirror and a stuffed toy of a snake. On top of these items was a thick letter.

Dear Petunia and Vernon,  
If you are receiving this letter then I am dead. I am very sorry. I wish I could have met up with you one more time. Enclosed is a key to a vault. Vault number 1059. This vault is what I have left to you. It contains all my diaries, my school stuff and some money. I want you to use that money to buy yourself only things that will make you happy. I love you very much sister and I had hoped that I could have had enough time to get to know my brother too.  
However, that is not why I am writing this letter. I am worried for my baby's welfare. In my will I have written that I do not want Harry to be given to you. This is not an insult to your parenting skills but more of a test. I also mentioned to a few people that I didn't want Harry to go to you if I died because I though you might abuse him as you hate magic. I am sorry for this but it had to be done. If Harry was delivered to your house then my suspiscions are correct.  
There is a prophecy made that says that Harry will be the one to vanquish the Dark Lord. That is why we were sent into hiding in the first place. There is a spell that can keep a house a secret so even if you are on the property but do not know it is there then you cannot see it. This is the spell that was used on our house. We tried to get Albus Dumbledore, our old headmaster and leader of the war effort to be our Secret Keeper (the person who can tell you where the house is so you can see it) but he refused saying that it would be the most obvious choice. He also stopped us from using James' best friend for the same reason. Instead he suggested that we use a friend who is very meek and feeble. If I am dead then it means that he has betrayed us. I have enclosed a mirror. Say into it 'Sirius Black'. It will let you talk to our friend. I implore that you do it quickly as he will most likely do something rash after our deaths. He was the friend that was not chosen. Tell him that you have a letter from me and you need him to come over here to see Harry. Do this before you continue reading because Sirius will need to help you with the rest of the things that I must ask of you.

Petunia and Vernon, who was reading it with his wife, decided that they would do that now. Petunia lifted the mirror out of the box carefully and spoke to it as she had been told to by her sister.

"Sirius Black," a face appeared in it that looked tired and drawn.  
"Who are you? What do you want? How did you get this"  
"My name is Petunia Dursley. My sister Lily Potter gave me this mirror. She told me to contact you as soon as I could. I need you to come to 4 Privet Drive to see to Harry," Petunia said to the man.  
"I'll be there as soon as I can," the man said and disappeared off the screen. Petunia took this oppurtunity to feed the two boys and by the time dudley had finished his bottle there was a knock at the door.

"Hello, I am Sirius Black. Where is Harry?" the man at the door said. He had black hair and dark eyes. These were made even darker by the black circles around them.  
"He's through in the kitchen with my wife," Vernon said to him and beckoned him inside. Sirius follwed him into the kitchen where Petunia was washing up the bottles the boys had just drank from. Sirius went over to Harry and picked him up to hug him. "Unca Sirri!" Harry squealed in delight at the man. dudley, seeing this joined in an reached his arms up. "Unca Sirri tooo!" Sirius chuckled and picked him up too.

"Why did you call me here? Harry is fine and you don't seem upset with him," Sirius inquired.  
"Lily told us to before we continued to read the rest of her letter. She said that you might do something rash if we didn't call soon and that we would need you to help us soon. Apparently she had some suspiscions about Dumbledore," Vernon explained to the relative stranger holding his son and nephew. Sirius just nodded and Petunia picked up the letter again.

Hello Sirius. I hope that Pet got through to you before you did anything to Peter. Go to Moody and get him to give you verisateum so that it is proven that you are not the secret keeper. We will need you alive and out of Azkaban if what I fear is correct. When Dumbledore did not do everything he could to help us I grew suspiscious. He seemed to want to use my little Harry as a tool in this war. He almost gave us away without it looking like it. He was so sure that Harry would defeat the Dark Lord without trying. If Harry is here now then it means that he definitely wants him to be used as a tool. He wants Harry to be abused so that he will be easier to control when the time is right. So Harry worships him. No doubt he wrote a letter telling you, Petunia, not to spoil Harry. He probably also tried to scare you about Harry's accidental magic so that you would try to curb it. If this is the case then I want you to top Harry from getting into his clutches.  
I did some research after I left school. I found out that I am not a Muggleborn but instead descendants of a line of squibs. We're related to Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Slazar was also related to Merlin. This means that Petunia and I have very powerful magical blood running through our veins. Dudley will most likely show some magic if given the right environment. Harry has already. His favourite trick is 'carousel' where he makes all his toys rise in the air and spin around. Enclosed is two vials. Inside them are potions to detect how much magic the person who's blood is in the potion has. Sirius will be familiar with them so that is his first job. Find out if Harry and Dudley have magic and how much they have. There is also two small wands. These are for the boys so Sirius can teach them. It will not appear on any radar because they have not started a school yet. Sirius' biggest task will be to teach the boys how to behave in the wizarding world. Remus will most likely help you here. They will need to know all the etiquette, laws and customs. Dumbledore does not want this because Harry will be more naive and so easier to mislead. It must be done if he is to continue the Potter line. Sirius, you were basically raised by the Potter's so you know their family customs. The other 4 keys enclosed are to the remaining Potter vaults. Use this money and the objects inside. Many are family heirlooms but some are useful. The goblins at Gringotts will tell you about each of the homes that James owns. You can use any of these. All but Godrics Hollow are well warded, unplottable and unknown to Dumbledore.  
The final thing I must tell you about is another school for Harry and Dudley to attend. Many do not know about it because very few are eligible to enter. When the four founders set up Hogwarts, they also set up another school for the more powerful students. These students would easily surpass others and could possibly be a danger if not taught control early. As such this school takes children when they are 8 as well as 11. The school is called Schola Magicae. It has a different Headmaster than Hogwarts and the Ministry have no control over what is taught there. Slytherin made sure to include a law that cannot be broken about this. If the potion given to the boys turns black then they are eligible to attend at 11. If it turns black and then turns to bright red then they will be sent a letter at 8. Should the potion turn any other colour then I hope that you send the boys away to a magical school in France or Russia instead.  
Petunia, Harry's favourite food is mushed banana with honey and he has an intolerance to gluten but he'll probably grow out of this soon. His favourite toy is the snake I put in this box. Be warned, he can talk to snakes. This is an ability passed down the Sltherin line so Dudley may be able to do this to. The cloak inside is an invisibility cloak. It is James' but he says to give it to you as we won't be using it again. The boys will have much fun with it though. It may be useful for Sirius too. The photo was the last one taken of all of us at your wedding. I hope that this letter is not sent and if it is then someone has heeded my lies about you so I am proven wrong about Dumbledore. If not then I wish you the best of luck.  
Lily and James Potter

The three adults in the kitchen were left fairly shocked, especially Sirius as he had always looked up to Dumbledore. However, now he thought about it, he could see how Dumbledore had never really done all he could do to protect them. Sirius knew what he had to do now. All thoughts of finding Peter Pettigrew and blasting him into pieces were forgotten. He had to help raise little Harry and his cousin Dudley. Firstly though he had to contact Remus.

He reached into his pocket and got out a mirror much like the one that Petunia had spoken to him on earlier. Into he said "Remus Lupin". A man with hazel eyes and golden brown hair answered the other end. He looked worse for wear also.

"Sirius! Have you heard the news? It's awful!" the man cried out the mirror distraughtly.  
"Yes Remus. I'm at Lily's sisters house. Lily sent her a letter to be delivered after her and James' death. You have to come over here and read it. We'll need your help. Can you apparate to my location"  
"Yes. I'll be right through," Remus said and then cut off the connection. a second later the was a pop and Remus had arrived.

"Harry!" Remus gasped and took him out of Petunia's arms where he was currently residing, "My poor boy"  
"Remus, Lily and James sent us a letter. In it Lily tells us her suspiscions about Dumbledore and how we should help Petunia and Vernon bring up Harry and Dudley in the wizarding world. You should read it," Sirius said picking up the long letter and handing it to him whilst Vernon took Harry and placed him back into his highchair next to Dudley. They were soon both playing with the toy snake.

As Remus read the letter his facial expression changed from grief to disbelief to anger and finally to grim determination. His eyes had turned slightly amber as he ground out, "Dumbledore is never getting hold of our boys" to the other's present. They nodded in agreement. After reading that and seeing how sweet Harry was the all swore to themselves to protect him and Dudley as much as possible.

"The first thing we need to do is see whether they can get into Schola Magicae then," Remus said lifting the two vials out of the box. He grabbed Harry's hand first and teld it over the top of the vial. Two drops of his blood dripped into the potion but Harry did not cry out because the charm to cut his hand also healed straight after. Remus then repeated this with Dudley.

"The potion will take two hours to develop. Do you have another cot or should we go shopping now?" Sirius asked Petunia and Vernon who were slightly in awe of the wizards power.  
"No, we need to get some things for Harry. Should we go and see the goblins about the other houses? Would it be safer to move to somewhere that the Dumbledore fellow can't find us? don't you have to go to see that Moody person about clearing your name or something?" Vernon asked the dark haired wizard. "We'll go to the Ministry first so Sirius can talk to Alastor. Then we can go to Diagon Alley to talk to Griphook. He was the Potter family goblin. He is in control of all their affairs. You can go to the vaults afterwards with Sirius. I'll go and see what I can find in Flourish and Botts that will help us. There has to be something about Schola Magicae. Look in the vaults for any books too Sirius. Then we can get some money transferred into Muggle money and get new stuff for the boys. I suppose we should get you some Wizarding clothes as well for when you go there. Does that sound okay?" Remus asked. He was the best person to be in control. Petunia and Vernon knew next to nothing about the magical world so were happy that a wizard was taking charge. Sirius was happy for Remus to as well. Sirius would be the first person to admit that he was not a leader and would never be organised.

Remus transfigured some tea towels into robes for Petunia and Vernon before the left the house. Once they were far enough away from the house to avoid arousing attention, Sirius heralded the Knight Bus and before they knew it they were all off in the purple triple decker to the Ministry of Magic in London. 


	3. Chapter 2: Clearing

The bright purple bus stopped in an average looking street in the heart of London. There seemed to be nothing special about this street, nothing that would suggest that this was where the ministry of Magic was but it was here that Remus and Sirius got out, followed by Vernon and Petunia with the two boys.

The Muggle couple were a tad confused as to why they were being ushered into a telephone box. They were meant to be going to the Magical world's government buildings. Surely they would be huge like the Muggle government?

Sirius and Remus pressed a few buttons once they were all inside. A voice floated through the speakers.  
"Please state your name and reason for visiting the Ministry"  
"Sirius Black to see Alastor Moody. Remus Lupin, Petunia Dursley and Vernon Dursley to register their adoption of Harry James Potter" Sirius spoke into the micrphone. The box jerked a bit cauing Dudley to giggle and soon they were moving downwards and into the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Remus and Sirius handed their wands over to be weighed and tester. They weren't quite sure why this was done because if anyone strolled in with a wand that had been used to cast a dark curse then the person testing probably wouldn't notice. He was a near squib and spent most of his time doing anything but his job.  
"You can continue," he said in a bored tone. Sirius and Remus seperate at the lifts. Remus going to floor 5 and Sirius to floor 8.

----

Sirius strolled into the Auror Division. It was his day off so he didn't need to be here. Well he did, just not for work. He went to find his supervisor, Alastor Moody. He would be impartial and thorough in his investigation. Even after death Lily was right, everyone would think that he was the secret keeper so he should get that fixed right now. Thank god Prongs had managed to settle down. Otherwise they'd all be in trouble!

Alastor was sitting in his office when Sirius knocked on the door and stuck his head around. So far he hadn't seen anyone. He was thankful for that because he didn't know how they would react. He hadn't seen the Daily Prophet this morning to see who's blame the Potter's death was on.

"What you doing here boy? Shouldn't you be hiding? After what you did!" Moody growled with his wand out.  
Obviously I should have read the paper. they must be blaming me, thought Sirius. He moved his hands up into a surrender position.  
"Alastor, I wasn't the secret keeper! Peter was. Dumbledore said that I would be too obvious a choice so they shouldn't chose me. I'll take verisateum to prove it. Just give me a chance. You know I would never do anything to the Potter's. They rescued me from having to join You-Know-Who. I wouldn't betray them. I owe them a life debt!" Sirius pleaded with the man that was like an uncle to him. Moody had helped him through all the Auror training and given him a place to live. Moody had been friends with James' parents and taken on the role of paranoid Uncle.  
"Fine. I'll give you the potion. One that you can't have touched. But if I find out that you did betray the Potters, well let's just say that Azkaban won't get to see you..." the gruff man threatened whilst removing a vial of clear liquid from a pocket inside his coat. He shook three drops onto Sirius' tongue before the younger man could reply. The potion took affect almost instantly. This was a slightly illegal and more potent version. However, with times as they were the Ministry wouldn't care.

"What's your full name?" the older Auror questioned.  
"Sirius William Black"  
"How old are you"  
"25"  
"Where were you last night"  
"At a Halloween party with Remus Lupin and a girl I met in Diagon Alley until I heard the news. Then I apparated to Godrics Hollow and gave Hagrid my motorcycle"  
"Where you the secret keeper for James and Lily Potter"  
"No. Peter Pettigrew was"  
"Are you a Death Eater"  
"NO"  
"Were you a Death Eater"  
"Never"  
"Where were you this morning"  
"Hunting for Pettigrew. I wanted to make that son of a bitch pay"  
"Did you find him"  
"No. I got a call on a mirror Lily enchanted from her sister Petunia. It was delivered to her this morning and she said that she wanted me to go over to see Harry"  
"Is there anything I should know about Pettigrew that will help us search for him"  
"He's an illegal rat animagus. He has a secret and warded house in Cornwall. Right on the beach,"

The potion had worn off by the time the last question had been delivered. The increase in strength meant that it couldn't be used for so long without running the risk of damage to the victims health. Alastor believed Sirius though and would run all the offical paperwork. Crouch would accept the proof from him. So long as Sirius didn't go and do anything stupid like hunt the rat down and kill him whilst he wasn't on duty as an auror.

"Right. I believe you. Let me fill in this paper work and I'll call the troops back in. He'll be our top priority. Just don't do anything rash. Catch him whilst on auror duty. Don't kill him though. Just stun him. We don't want you to get the blame for it," Moody warned his younger partner who could, on occasion behave without thinking. He didn't have the experience yet. However, he wasn't far off it. None of the new recruits were. War did terrible things, Alastor mused. Terrible terrible things.  
"I'll be careful. Harry's new guardians received a letter form Lily this morning. It said that they should include me and Remus in his life. We can help him learn about the magical world. It'll be a bit of continuity whilst he's growing up. Not going to risk anything. Promise!" Sirius replied. He couldn't remain serious for long so the last part was said with a mock salute.  
"I'll go tell Crouch now and I've no doubt that he'll put news in the Prophet about Pettigrew's crime. I'll be seeing you tomorrow then for work," Alastor said opening the door and limping off to the lifts. Sirius just shook his head and followed after him.

----

Meanwhile, on level 5, Remus and the Dursleys were running through the paperwork that would cement their guardianship of Harry. It would mean that Harry would be seen not as their nephew but as their son. They had decided, however, that Harry should keep the name Potter. Remus had explained on the way to the department for Adoption Of Magical Children the importance of lineage in the Wizarding world. It sounded a bit Medieval to them. Still, the people wore dresses and relied on bits of wood. Importance on family seemed quite admirable in comparison.

"So Mr Dursley, if you wouldn't mind signing and then dropping some blood here," the official said to Vernon handing him a quill. Vernon, being rather perplexed as to how he was meant to use such a thing took a biro out of his pocket and used that instead. Really, how behind were these people? Remus then used a spell to cause a small cut to appear on Vernon's finger. He dabbed his right index on to the page. the writing turned silver and seemed to become part of the paper. "Mrs Dursley, if you would like to do the same," the official went to give her the quill but she just took the biro from her husbands hand.

When she had finished, the parchment rolled itself up and sealed. It then started to copy itself. The official handed one to Vernon who was the only adult with a free hand whilst the other two held onto the young boys. The other floated over to a filing cabinet where it sorted itself. The boys found this hilarious and tried to grab it as it flew past them. The paper aeroplane memos in the lift had barely survived the two terrors.

They had taken so long in the adoption department that they bumped into Sirius in the lift going up.  
"All sorted. May-Eye has gone to tell Crouch. Pettigrew is now public enemy number one. Yes Remus, I promise not to do anything rash. I have my little boys to look after now though," Sirius said before Remus opened his mouth. He knew his friend very well. He knew exactly what the lecture would be. Of course that didn't mean to say that he actually listened to it.  
"Very well. Shall we go on to Gringotts then? We'll need some money and to find out about those houses. We can inquire about Lily and James' will whilst we're there..." Remus trailed off. He was going through a mental checklist as to what they needed to do. Most of the short term tasks left to them were easy. The adoption and Sirius' guilt was cleared up. Next was just the inheritence to sort out. He knew the Dursley's would probably move house. After reading Lily's letter and having friendly feelings to Dumbledore he would, these people didn't know the old wizard so were more determined that he shouldn't find them. After the necessary basics, Remus would change some money into Muggle pounds and Petunia could direct the shopping of new baby stuff.

A/N Sirius may seem slightly out of character here but if you think about it, this is him before years of torture and coldness. He would be carefree. He's also just been told that his godson may be in more danger than that of a traitorous best friend so he is unlikely to go running into danger. The Dursleys are obviously controlled mostly by Petunia, almost all families are! they can't be horrible monsters though because they love their son lots. Harry was just dumpedon them though. It would make sense that they weren't fond of his presence. 


End file.
